Tirah Le’au came to non-volleyball power Monrovia High School as a raw talent. She will leave as the most dominant player in school history and one of the best all-around players in the Valley this season.

At a school mostly known for football, baseball and softball, Le’au has helped lead the Wildcats to three consecutive second-place finishes in the Rio Hondo League. The Wildcats already are assured of finishing second this season with the final games of the regular season this week.

“I looked at it to being more of a challenge because my school is not known for volleyball and I wanted to make it known,” Le’au said. “That would be one of my accomplishments. I think I have helped put (Monrovia) volleyball on the map.”

The Wildcats never had broken La Ca ada’s lock on the league title, but last week they ended the Spartans’ streak of winning 112 consecutive games, which had lasted more than three years.

It was all because the Spartans, and really no other team, stopped Le’au. She had 43 kills against La Ca ada and gave her Club West teammates fits against St. Lucy’s in the Ayala tournament, although the Regents, loaded with club players, won in two.

Except for Le’au, Monrovia typically does not have any club players.

“She knows where everybody is on the court,” Monrovia coach Wayne Teng said. “When we played St. Lucy’s, no one could cover her. They split up and it still didn’t work.”

Le’au already has signed a national letter of intent with the University of Georgia and will be heading to Athens, Ga., next week when the Bulldogs announce their signees.

“It’s a humbling experience to come from a program that doesn’t have any club players and going to a Division I school,” she said. “It is very humbling to me because you’re going from the bottom to the top.”

The scholarship offer, for six years, will allow Le’au to complete her Master’s degree, although she said she’s still undecided on a major.

But it is not the kills or defensive skills that have made Le’au stand out this year.

When Teng became coach after her freshman season, he built the team around players a year older. In their senior seasons last year, Monrovia went 23-7.

So when this season began, it featured Le’au and five starters who never had played varsity volleyball. That created all sorts of dilemmas for Le’au and the Wildcats.

“We have all worked really hard to be the team we are,” Le’au said. “I’m pretty proud of them and we’ve come a long way.”

There is no question Le’au is the focus of the Wildcats. She no longer exits the floor when she goes to the back row, and she frequently comes up with the Wildcats’ biggest digs. Sets often do not go to the front row but instead go to Le’au on the back row.

“I think we need to be smart in how to utilize her effectively all over the court,” Teng said. “Hopefully, the other girls chip in for the same cause. It shows every time we get kills. She sets up the offense and the defense.”

There also are other noticeable differences. Teng admitted he does not have to do as much teaching and yelling during matches. In pregame warm-ups, coaches frequently take part. Le’au instead can be found running the drills.

“It was hard to be a leader because I wasn’t really a leader,” she said. “But by being put in this position, I was forced to be a leader. I was always the youngest on the team. It’s kind of weird for me to be the oldest and be a leader.

“At first, it was hard to learn how to cooperate. But now I actually enjoy being a leader. Volleyball is a team sport, but as a leader, you always have to accept the fact that the team is going to look for you and I have to hit the ball wherever

I am.”

That means no matter what she does, Le’au knows she needs to get her teammates involved.

“After beating San Marino (twice in five games) and doing well in the (Ayala) tournament, it woke us up to realizing that we really are a good team if we all play together and work together.

“That’s part of the connection I have with the girls. Not only am I a leader but a role model. If you know in your heart you can play volleyball at a Division I college, then anything is possible. That is what I keep trying to tell the girls.”

Le’au admitted that, although she knows it is impossible, she said she is upset if one of her big kill attempts is returned.

“She’s a smart player and an amazing player,” La Ca ada libero Eirene Kim said of Le’au. “She sees all over and she can keep everything in.”

Le’au said she secretly admired those saves.

“It makes me hit harder,” she said. “But it helps our team because if they see me hitting hard, they have the confidence to say, `Oh, Tirah’s hitting hard.’ Then we can pick up the balls the other girls that are hitting at us.”

More than 70 schools contacted Le’au, who took only one recruiting trip, to Georgia.

“I fell in love with their whole college setting,” she said. “It’s so family-oriented. It is not so much home, but it is the kind of place that I want to be.”

Her Samoan heritage will make that difficult, she admitted.

“Family is everything,” she said. “Family is first. That’s the biggest challenge I’m going to have to overcome. It’s the best decision because it is far and I won’t be distracted. I’m thinking of it like it’s only six years of my life.”

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